Tag: music

St. Patrick’s Day celebrated in Balboa Park!

A big celebration of St. Patrick’s Day was held this afternoon in San Diego. The House of Ireland presented their annual lawn program in Balboa Park, complete with Irish food, Irish music, Irish dancing, and Irish dogs!

A huge crowd gathered for the event. The lawn at the International Cottages was filled with humanity and a sea of green!

As the cultural entertainment began, traditionally dressed performers arrived in a festive procession. Soon thereafter, the Cameron Highlanders turned up the energy with their stirring bagpipes and booming drums.

Performances by several groups would follow. Sprightly Irish dancing earned tremendous applause. Musicians played Irish tunes. Several friendly Irish Wolfhounds took the stage, and we learned about their history in Ireland–the wolves didn’t stand a chance. Then more colorful Irish dancing by young people…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

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Learning to folk dance in San Diego!

Spirited people were learning how to folk dance this afternoon in San Diego’s historic Balboa Park Club building!

During today’s Dance Festival, which was sponsored by the San Diego Park and Recreation Department and the International Dance Association, folk dancing lessons were provided for beginners. The spacious ballroom was filled with joyful music representing diverse cultures. Several friendly teachers were on hand.

I watched for a bit as participants learned fun new steps in the ballroom.

As you can see from my photos, the dancing sculpture at the center of the grand foyer of the Balboa Park Club had been decorated for the event. Next door, in the Santa Fe Room, international crafts were for sale by a variety of smiling vendors. Some puppets were also visiting from the nearby Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater!

Would you like to learn how to folk dance? Or ballroom dance? Go to the website of the International Dance Association of San Diego County by clicking here, then check out their information and future events!

“Laughter, song, and dance create emotional and spiritual connection; they remind us of the one thing that truly matters when we are searching for comfort, celebration, inspiration, or healing: We are not alone.”

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Shimms indie rockers perform on the Embarcadero!

Three residents of Little Italy were rocking San Diego’s Embarcadero this afternoon!

The band Shimms had set up their instruments by San Diego Bay, just south of the Grape Street Pier, and were performing indie rock for an audience that had gathered on the boardwalk.

I lingered for a short while and listened to some darn good music.

You never know what you might encounter during a walk along San Diego’s waterfront. Street musicians, jugglers, dancers, bubble makers, a person costumed like Chewbacca, a dead-ringer for Maverick in Top Gun, a guy with flame-throwing bagpipes–it can be quite surprising!

You might also encounter some talented musicians!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Concert Series kicks off at San Diego Library!

The 2024 Winter/Spring Concert Series kicked off today at the San Diego Central Library. Sue Palmer and her Motel Swing Orchestra entertained a packed house inside the library’s Neil Morgan Auditorium.

The audience really dug the jazzy selections, including music by Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and great pieces written by San Diego’s “Queen of Boogie Woogie” Sue Palmer. A few audience members felt inclined to dance during the upbeat performance!

Sue Palmer is an inductee into the San Diego Music Hall of Fame. Her top notch Motel Swing Orchestra includes piano, saxophone, guitar, drums, trombone and bass. Each musician wowed the crowd, receiving spontaneous applause. The strong vocals were provided by Jazz and Blues singer Liz Ajuzie.

More concerts are scheduled in the months ahead. Several make use of the Central Library’s Steinway piano and will feature some of San Diego’s top pianists!

Believe it or not, this marks the 68th season of free concerts at the San Diego Central Library.

To see what’s coming up, check out my next photo, or visit the library’s web page here.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

K-pop dancing in the rain in Balboa Park!

An unexpected K-pop dance party in San Diego’s always surprising Balboa Park?

Take a look!

This afternoon the PRISM4TIC’S Pajama Party had dozens of K-pop fans dancing in the Plaza de Panama. Visitors to Balboa Park who watched or wandered nearby were invited to join!

The dancing brought a community of local K-pop lovers together. Many immediately recognized the randomly played songs and jumped onto the outdoor dance floor.

PRISM4TIC is a San Diego-based Kpop Dance Cover Group.

Every walk through Balboa Park brings new surprises. Even on a drizzly January afternoon!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Dean, Rosie, Nat and Sinatra appear in National City!

Four legendary singers are coming to National City. Dean Martin, Rosie Hamlin, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra are gradually materializing outside Cafe La Maze Streakhouse!

Check out this amazing spray paint mural that is being created by Paul Jimenez and Signe Ditona of Ground Floor Murals!

Most people know Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra. But do you recognize the name Rosie Hamlin?

Rosalie “Rosie” Hamlin was lead singer of Rosie and the Originals. The musical group’s 1960 hit single Angel Baby is now considered an oldies standard. Versions of the song has been recorded by numerous famous artists, including John Lennon and Linda Ronstadt.

Rosie Hamlin wrote Angel Baby while attending Sweetwater High School in National City!

Very cool!

Curious about all the squiggles and tiny figures in the mural? Ground Floor Murals begins painting their artwork this unique way.

Next time I walk by it, I’ll take photos of the completed mural and post them as an update.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

House of Ukraine kids sing Christmas carols!

The spirit of Christmas lives on in San Diego!

This afternoon, kids performed traditional Ukrainian Christmas carols at the International Cottages in Balboa Park. They sang and played guitar in front of the House of Ukraine cottage.

I saw small wise men, an angel, a bright guiding star, and possibly Mary and Joseph on donkeys. When I asked about the riders, I learned animals from the stable where Jesus was born are often represented in traditional Ukrainian skits performed by kids wandering from door to door during the holiday season.

In this world where adult wars never seem to cease, let us remember the children. May there be Peace on Earth.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Celebrating the 109th birthday of the Spreckels Organ!

A special concert today in Balboa Park celebrated the 109th birthday of the Spreckels Organ!

San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez performed a crowd pleasing assortment of music, and received another standing ovation. Our city is fortunate to have a charismatic, world-class organist increasing the popularity of the Spreckels Organ, the largest outdoor musical instrument in the world!

During the free concert, audience members were invited to file through the organ building to watch and hear the incredible pipe organ in action. I myself entered as Raul began a medley from The Sound of Music. I wanted to take another look at historical photographs that line the walls of the building’s central hallway.

(You can see behind-the-scenes photos I took of the Spreckels Organ nine years ago by clicking here.)

The Spreckels Organ made its debut on January 1, 1915, at the opening of the Panama-California Exposition in Balboa Park. The organ was donated by the Spreckels brothers to the people of San Diego and the people of all the world. They stipulated that all concerts must be free.

Free concerts can be enjoyed 109 years later every Sunday at 2 pm!

Crowd listens to Spreckels Organ 109th birthday concert during the holiday season.

The San Diego Union newspaper, Friday Morning, January 1, 1915. John D. Spreckels Gives to San Diego America’s First Out-Of-Door Organ.

Mr. Edward Crome, Spreckels Organ Installer, 1914.

Mr. Harrison Albright, Architect, Spreckels Organ Pavilion.

Dr. Humphrey J. Stewart, City Organist, 1915-1932.

The Spreckels Organ Pavilion Under Construction – 1914. The only surviving picture.

A 1915 Concert. Note the hooded console and umbrellas.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

The light shines through Switchfoot for Christmas.

An extraordinary concert was held this evening in San Diego. World-famous local rock band Switchfoot performed during December Nights at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion in Balboa Park. It was holiday concert that will be remembered for a very long time.

Switchfoot performed many of their hits, including Meant to Live and Dare You to Move, plus several of their new Christmas songs, such as California Christmas and Scrappy Little Christmas Tree. And there was Feliz Navidad and What a Wonderful World and Silent Night.

Thousands in the pavilion listened, sang along, waved their illuminated phones like candles.

Jon Foreman, lead singer, guitarist and songwriter, came down into the audience as the concert began. His voice lifted. And that’s when the light began to shine through.

From the very first note to the last, the band opened doors to that inner light that shines through eyes during Christmastime.

It was the light that tells us we were meant to live for so much more. It was the light that tells us to live our short lives to the very fullest. It was the quiet light that waits in all of our hearts for a door to open.

Switchfoot opened that door.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

More treasure inside La Jolla’s Athenaeum!

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla is like a friendly palace filled with endless treasure. Step through its front door and you’re surrounded by jewels.

Shelves filled with knowledge and beauty. Works of art on the walls, around corners, in nooks and crannies. Comfy places to sit, read, listen, write and fill oneself with wonder.

I headed to La Jolla and stepped through the Athenaeum’s front door yesterday.

In addition to works of art that I hadn’t previously seen, I enjoyed looking at the newest exhibitions in the library’s galleries.

Here are a few of the jewels that I discovered…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!